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January 31
January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 334 days remaining until the end of the year (335 in leap years). This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Friday or Saturday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Monday or Wednesday (56). Contents 1 Events 2 Births 3 Deaths 4 Holidays and observances 5 External links Events 314 – Pope Sylvester I succeeds Pope Miltiades. 1504 – France cedes Naples to Aragon. 1578 – The Battle of Gembloux takes place. 1606 – Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes is executed for plotting against Parliament and King James. 1747 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital. 1801 – John Marshall is appointed the Chief Justice of the United States. 1814 – Gervasio Antonio de Posadas becomes Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (present-day Argentina). 1846 – After the Milwaukee Bridge War, Juneautown and Kilbourntown unify as the City of Milwaukee. 1848 – John C. Frémont is court-martialed for mutiny and disobeying orders. 1849 – Corn Laws are abolished in the United Kingdom pursuant to legislation in 1846. 1862 – Alvan Graham Clark discovers the white dwarf star Sirius B, a companion of Sirius, through an 18.5-inch (47 cm) telescope now located at Northwestern University. 1865 – American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery and submits it to the states for ratification. 1865 – American Civil War: Confederate General Robert E. Lee becomes general-in-chief. 1867 – Maronite nationalist leader Youssef Bey Karam leaves Lebanon on board a French ship bound for Algeria. 1891 – History of Portugal: The first attempt at a Portuguese republican revolution breaks out in the northern city of Porto. 1897 – Czechoslav Trade Union Association is founded in Prague. 1900 – Datu Muhammad Salleh is assassinated in Kampung Teboh, Tambunan, ending the Mat Salleh Rebellion. 1915 – World War I: Germany is the first to make large-scale use of poison gas in warfare in the Battle of Bolimów against Russia. 1917 – World War I: Germany announces that its U-boats will resume unrestricted submarine warfare after a two-year hiatus. 1918 – A series of accidental collisions on a misty Scottish night leads to the loss of two Royal Navy submarines with over a hundred lives, and damage to another five British warships. 1919 – The Battle of George Square takes place in Glasgow, Scotland. 1929 – The Soviet Union exiles Leon Trotsky. 1930 – 3M begins marketing Scotch Tape. 1942 – World War II: Allied forces are defeated by the Japanese at the Battle of Malaya and retreat to the island of Singapore. 1943 – World War II: German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to the Soviets at Stalingrad, followed 2 days later by the remainder of his Sixth Army, ending one of the war's fiercest battles. 1944 – World War II: American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands. 1944 – World War II: During the Anzio campaign the 1st Ranger Battalion (Darby's Rangers) is destroyed behind enemy lines in a heavily outnumbered encounter at Battle of Cisterna, Italy. 1945 – US Army private Eddie Slovik is executed for desertion, the first such execution of an American soldier since the Civil War. 1945 – World War II: About 3,000 inmates from the Stutthof concentration camp are forcibly marched into the Baltic Sea at Palmnicken (now Yantarny, Russia) and executed. 1945 – World War II: The end of fighting in the Battle of Hill 170 during the Burma Campaign, in which the British 3 Commando Brigade repulsed a Japanese counterattack on their positions and precipitated a general retirement from the Arakan Peninsula. 1946 – Yugoslavia's new constitution, modeling that of the Soviet Union, establishes six constituent republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia). 1946 – The Democratic Republic of Vietnam introduces the đồng to replace the French Indochinese piastre at par. 1949 – These Are My Children, the first television daytime soap opera is broadcast by the NBC station in Chicago. 1950 – United States President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb. 1953 – A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands and over 300 in the United Kingdom 1957 – Eight people on the ground in Pacoima, California are killed following the mid-air collision between a Douglas DC-7 airliner and a Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet. 1958 – The first successful American satellite detects the Van Allen radiation belt. 1961 – Project Mercury: Mercury-Redstone 2: Ham the Chimp travels into outer space. 1966 – The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program. 1968 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive. 1968 – Nauru gains independence from Australia. 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 14: Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon. 1971 – The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, begins in Detroit. 1990 – The first McDonald's in the Soviet Union opens in Moscow. 1995 – President Bill Clinton authorizes a $20 billion loan to Mexico to stabilize its economy. 1996 – An explosives-filled truck rams into the gates of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka killing at least 86 and injuring 1,400. 1996 – Comet Hyakutake is discovered by Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Hyakutake. 2000 – Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crash: An MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 aboard. 2001 – In the Netherlands, a Scottish court convicts Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and acquits another Libyan citizen for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. 2003 – The Waterfall rail accident occurs near Waterfall, New South Wales, Australia. 2007 – Suspects are arrested in Birmingham in the UK, accused of plotting the kidnap, holding and eventual beheading of a serving Muslim British soldier in Iraq. 2009 – In Kenya, at least 113 people are killed and over 200 injured following an oil spillage ignition in Molo, days after a massive fire at a Nakumatt supermarket in Nairobi killed at least 25 people. 2010 – Avatar becomes the first film to gross over $2 billion worldwide. 2011 – A winter storm hits North America for the second time in the same month, causing $1.8 billion in damage across the United States and Canada and killing 24 people. 2013 – An explosion at the Pemex Executive Tower in Mexico City kills at least 33 people and injures more than 100. Births 36 BC – Antonia Minor, Greek daughter of Mark Antony (d. 38 AD) 877 – Taejo of Goryeo (d. 943) 1512 – Henry, King of Portugal (d. 1580) 1543 – Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japanese shogun (d. 1616) 1550 – Henry I, Duke of Guise (d. 1588) 1597 – John Francis Regis, French priest and saint (d. 1640) 1624 – Arnold Geulincx, Flemish philosopher and academic (d. 1669) 1673 – Louis de Montfort, French priest and saint (d. 1716) 1686 – Hans Egede, Norwegian missionary and explorer (d. 1758) 1752 – Gouverneur Morris, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, United States Ambassador to France (d. 1816) 1759 – François Devienne, French flute player and composer (d. 1803) 1797 – Franz Schubert, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 1828) 1820 – William B. Washburn, American politician, 28th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1887) 1835 – Lunalilo of Hawaii (d. 1874) 1854 – David Emmanuel, Romanian mathematician and academic (d. 1941) 1865 – Henri Desgrange, French cyclist and journalist (d. 1940) 1865 – Shastriji Maharaj, Indian spiritual leader, founded BAPS (d. 1951) 1868 – Theodore William Richards, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928) 1872 – Zane Grey, American author (d. 1939) 1881 – Irving Langmuir, American chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957) 1884 – Theodor Heuss, German journalist and politician, 1st President of the Federal Republic of Germany (d. 1963) 1884 – Mammad Amin Rasulzade, Azerbaijani scholar and politician, 1st President of The Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (d. 1955) 1889 – Frank Foster, English cricketer (d. 1958) 1892 – Eddie Cantor, American singer-songwriter, actor, and dancer (d. 1964) 1894 – Isham Jones, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1956) 1896 – Sofya Yanovskaya, Russian mathematician and historian (d. 1966) 1902 – Nat Bailey, Canadian businessman, founded White Spot (d. 1978) 1902 – Tallulah Bankhead, American actress (d. 1968) 1902 – Alva Myrdal, Swedish sociologist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986) 1905 – Diana Napier, English actress (d. 1982) 1905 – John O'Hara, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1970) 1906 – Roosevelt Sykes, American singer and pianist (d. 1983) 1909 – Miron Grindea, Romanian-English journalist (d. 1995) 1911 – Eddie Byrne, English-Irish actor (d. 1981) 1913 – Don Hutson, American football player and coach (d. 1997) 1914 – Carey Loftin, American actor and stuntman (d. 1997) 1914 – Daya Mata, American religious leader (d. 2010) 1914 – Jersey Joe Walcott, American boxer and police officer (d. 1994) 1915 – Bobby Hackett, American trumpet player and cornet player (d. 1976) 1915 – Alan Lomax, American historian, author, and scholar (d. 2002) 1915 – Thomas Merton, American monk and author (d. 1968) 1915 – Garry Moore, American comedian and game show host (d. 1993) 1917 – Fred Bassetti, American architect and academic, founded Bassetti Architects (d. 2013) 1919 – Jackie Robinson, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1972) 1920 – Josef Hauser S. J., Hungarian zoologist and priest (d. 2004) 1920 – Stewart Udall, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 2010) 1921 – John Agar, American actor (d. 2002) 1921 – Carol Channing, American actress, singer, and dancer 1921 – E. Fay Jones, American architect, designed the Thorncrown Chapel (d. 2004) 1921 – Mario Lanza, American tenor and actor (d. 1959) 1921 – Ralph Harris, British journalist (d. 2008) 1922 – Joanne Dru, American actress (d. 1996) 1923 – Norman Mailer, American journalist and author (d. 2007) 1925 – Benjamin Hooks, American minister, lawyer, and activist (d. 2010) 1926 – Tom Alston, American baseball player (d. 1993) 1927 – Norm Prescott, American animator, producer, and composer, co-founded Filmation Studios (d. 2005) 1928 – Eric Ash, German-English engineer and academic 1928 – Chuck Willis, American singer-songwriter (d. 1958) 1928 – Irma Wyman, American computer scientist and engineer 1929 – Rudolf Mössbauer, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2011) 1929 – Jean Simmons, English-American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 2010) 1930 – Joakim Bonnier, Swedish race car driver (d. 1972) 1930 – Al De Lory, American composer, conductor, and producer (d. 2012) 1931 – Ernie Banks, American baseball player and coach (d. 2015) 1931 – Christopher Chataway, English runner, journalist, and politician (d. 2014) 1932 – Miron Babiak, Polish captain (d. 2013) 1933 – Camille Henry, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1997) 1933 – Bernardo Provenzano, Italian mob boss (d. 2016) 1934 – Ernesto Brambilla, Italian motorcycle racer and race car driver 1934 – Gene DeWeese, American author (d. 2012) 1934 – James Franciscus, American actor and producer (d. 1991) 1934 – Bob Turner, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2005) 1935 – Kenzaburō Ōe, Japanese author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1936 – Can Bartu, Turkish former basketball and football player 1937 – Regimantas Adomaitis, Lithuanian actor 1937 – Andrée Boucher, Canadian educator and politician, 39th Mayor of Quebec City (d. 2007) 1937 – Philip Glass, American composer 1937 – Suzanne Pleshette, American actress (d. 2008) 1938 – Beatrix of the Netherlands 1938 – Lynn Carlin, American actress 1938 – James G. Watt, American lawyer and politician, 43rd United States Secretary of the Interior 1939 – Claude Gauthier, Canadian singer-songwriter and actor 1940 – Kitch Christie, South African rugby player and coach (d. 1998) 1941 – Dick Gephardt, American lawyer and politician 1941 – Gerald McDermott, American author and illustrator (d. 2012) 1941 – Jessica Walter, American actress 1942 – Daniela Bianchi, Italian actress 1942 – Derek Jarman, English director, stage designer, and author (d. 1994) 1944 – Connie Booth, American-English actress and psychotherapist 1944 – John Inverarity, Australian cricketer and coach 1944 – Charlie Musselwhite, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player 1945 – Rynn Berry, American historian and author (d. 2014) 1945 – Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, English lawyer, judge, and academic 1945 – Joseph Kosuth, American sculptor and theorist 1946 – Sylvia Hitchcock, American model, Miss Universe 1967 (d. 2015) 1946 – Terry Kath, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Chicago) (d. 1978) 1947 – Jonathan Banks, American actor 1947 – Nolan Ryan, American baseball player 1947 – Matt Minglewood, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist 1947 – Glynn Turman, American actor, director, and producer 1948 – Volkmar Groß, German footballer 1948 – Muneo Suzuki, Japanese politician 1949 – Johan Derksen, Dutch footballer and journalist 1949 – Norris Church Mailer, American model and educator (d. 2010) 1949 – Ken Wilber, American sociologist, philosopher, and author 1950 – Denise Fleming, American author and illustrator 1950 – Alexander Korzhakov, Russian general and bodyguard 1950 – Janice Rebibo, American-Israeli author and poet (d. 2015) 1951 – Dave Benton, Aruban-Estonian singer and drummer 1951 – Harry Wayne Casey, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (KC and the Sunshine Band) 1951 – Phil Manzanera, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Roxy Music, Quiet Sun, and 801) 1951 – Won Sei-hoon, South Korean intelligence officer 1952 – Nadya Rusheva, Russian painter (d. 1969) 1953 – Ovidiu Lipan, Romanian drummer (Transsylvania Phoenix) 1954 – Faoud Bacchus, Guyanese cricketer 1954 – Mark Slavin, Israeli wrestler (d. 1972) 1954 – Adrian Vandenberg, Dutch guitarist and sngwriter (Whitesnake, Vandenberg, and Manic Eden) 1955 – Virginia Ruzici, Romanian tennis player and manager 1956 – John Lydon, English singer-songwriter (Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd) 1956 – Stefan Majewski, Polish footballer and coach 1957 – Shirley Babashoff, American swimmer 1958 – Armin Reichel, German footballer and manager 1959 – Anthony LaPaglia, Australian footballer, actor, and producer 1959 – Kelly Lynch, American model and actress 1959 – Mickey Simmonds, English keyboard player and songwriter (Renaissance and Camel) 1960 – Akbar Ganji, Iranian journalist and author 1960 – Grant Morrison, Scottish author and screenwriter 1960 – Željko Šturanović, Montenegrin politician, 31st Prime Minister of Montenegro (d. 2014) 1961 – Elizabeth Barker, Baroness Barker, English politician 1961 – Fatou Bensouda, Gambian lawyer and judge 1961 – Lloyd Cole, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Lloyd Cole and the Commotions) 1961 – Mako Ishino, Japanese singer and actress 1961 – Fatih Kısaparmak, Turkish singer-songwriter 1963 – John Dye, American actor (d. 2011) 1963 – Madis Eek, Estonian architect 1963 – Gwen Graham, American lawyer and politician 1964 – Sylvie Bernier, Canadian diver 1964 – Jeff Hanneman, American guitarist and songwriter (Slayer) (d. 2013) 1964 – Martha MacCallum, American journalist 1964 – Dawn Prince-Hughes, American anthropologist and ethologist 1964 – Billey Shamrock, Swedish singer-songwriter and actor 1965 – Giorgos Gasparis, Greek basketball player and coach 1965 – Ofra Harnoy, Israeli-Canadian cellist 1966 – Umar Alisha, Indian journalist and philanthropist 1966 – Dexter Fletcher, English actor and director 1966 – Jorge González, Argentinian basketball player and wrestler (d. 2010) 1967 – Chad Channing, American singer and drummer (Nirvana and Child's Play) 1967 – Jason Cooper, English drummer (The Cure and My Life Story) 1967 – Fat Mike, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (NOFX, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, and False Alarm) 1967 – Michelle Ruff, American voice actress 1967 – Joey Wong, Taiwanese-Hong Kong actress 1968 – Matt King, English actor, producer, and screenwriter 1968 – Ulrica Messing, Swedish politician, 2nd Swedish Minister for Infrastructure 1968 – Patrick Stevens, Belgian sprinter 1969 – Dov Charney, Canadian-American fashion designer and businessman, founded American Apparel 1970 – Minnie Driver, English singer-songwriter and actress 1970 – Danny Michel, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer 1971 – Patrick Kielty, Northern Irish comedian and television host 1971 – Patricia Velásquez, Venezuelan model, actress, and producer 1971 – Lee Young-ae, South Korean actress 1973 – Portia de Rossi, Australian-American actress 1974 – Wil Anderson, Australian comedian and radio host 1974 – Othella Harrington, American basketball player and coach 1974 – Ariel Pestano, Cuban baseball player 1975 – Fred Coleman, American football player and coach 1975 – Jackie O, Australian radio and television host 1976 – Traianos Dellas, Greek footballer and manager 1976 – Buddy Rice, American race car driver 1976 – Paul Scheer, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter 1977 – Shingo Katori, Japanese singer and actor (SMAP) 1977 – Jim Kleinsasser, American football player 1977 – Bobby Moynihan, American actor 1977 – Sergei Pareiko, Estonian footballer 1977 – Anthony Rosano, American porn actor 1977 – Katherine Shindle, American actress, singer, and dancer 1977 – Kerry Washington, American actress 1978 – Fabián Caballero, Argentinian footballer and manager 1978 – Brad Rutter, American game show contestant on Jeopardy! 1978 – Ellen Stagg, American photographer 1978 – Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Douro 1979 – Daniel Tammet, English author and educator 1979 – Emmett J. Scanlan, Irish actor and producer 1980 – James Adomian, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter 1981 – Julio Arca, Argentinian footballer 1981 – Justin Timberlake, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor (*NSYNC) 1982 – Maret Ani, Estonian tennis player 1982 – Yuniesky Betancourt, Cuban baseball player 1982 – Andreas Görlitz, German footballer 1982 – Salvatore Masiello, Italian footballer 1982 – Allan McGregor, Scottish footballer 1982 – Bruno Nogueira, Portuguese comedian and actor 1982 – Elena Paparizou, Swedish-Greek singer-songwriter (Antique) 1982 – Jānis Sprukts, Latvian ice hockey player 1982 – Yukimi Nagano, Swedish singer-songwriter (Little Dragon) 1982 – Brad Thompson, American baseball player 1982 – Zulmir Bečević, Swedish author 1983 – James Sutton, English actor 1983 – Fabio Quagliarella, Italian footballer 1984 – Vernon Davis, American football player 1984 – Josh Johnson, Canadian-American baseball player 1984 – Jeremy Wariner, American runner 1984 – Alessandro Zanni, Italian rugby player 1985 – Adam Federici, Australian footballer 1985 – Mario Williams, American football player 1986 – Megan Ellison, American film producer, founded Annapurna Pictures 1986 – George Elokobi, Cameroonian footballer 1986 – Yves Ma-Kalambay, Belgian footballer 1986 – Pauline Parmentier, French tennis player 1987 – Tyler Hubbard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Florida Georgia Line) 1987 – Marcus Mumford, American-English singer-songwriter (Mumford & Sons and The New Basement Tapes) 1988 – Justine Ozga, German tennis player 1988 – Brett Pitman, English footballer 1988 – Taijo Teniste, Estonian footballer 1990 – Jacopo Fortunato, Italian footballer 1990 – Kati Ojaloo, Estonian hammer thrower 1990 – Kota Yabu, Japanese singer and actor (Hey! Say! JUMP) 1992 – Christopher, Danish singer 1992 – Tyler Seguin, Canadian ice hockey player 1994 – Kenneth Zohore, Danish footballer 1995 – Sten Olmre, Estonian basketball player 1996 – Joel Courtney, American actor Deaths 632 – Máedóc of Ferns, Irish bishop and saint (b. 550) 1216 – Theodore II of Constantinople 1398 – Emperor Sukō of Japan (b. 1334) 1418 – Mircea I of Wallachia (b. 1355) 1435 – Xuande Emperor of China (b. 1398) 1561 – Bairam Khan, Mughalan general (b. 1501) 1561 – Menno Simons, Dutch minister and theologian (b. 1496) 1580 – Henry, King of Portugal (b. 1512) 1606 – Guy Fawkes, English conspirator, leader of the Gunpowder Plot (b. 1570) 1606 – Ambrose Rookwood, English criminal (b. 1578) 1606 – Thomas Wintour, English criminal (b. 1571) 1615 – Claudio Acquaviva, Italian priest, 5th Superior General of the Society of Jesus (b. 1543) 1632 – Jost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (b. 1552) 1665 – Johannes Clauberg, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1622) 1686 – Jean Mairet, French playwright (b. 1604) 1720 – Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (b. 1654) 1729 – Jacob Roggeveen, Dutch explorer (b. 1659) 1736 – Filippo Juvarra, Italian architect and set designer, designed the Basilica of Superga (b. 1678) 1788 – Charles Edward Stuart, Italian husband of Princess Louise of Stolberg-Gedern (b. 1720) 1790 – Thomas Lewis, Irish-American lawyer and surveyor (b. 1718) 1794 – Mariot Arbuthnot, English admiral and politician, 12th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (b. 1711) 1811 – Manuel Alberti, Argentinian priest and journalist (b. 1763) 1815 – José Félix Ribas, Venezuelan soldier (b. 1775) 1828 – Alexander Ypsilantis, Greek general (b. 1792) 1836 – John Cheyne, English physician and author (b. 1777) 1844 – Henri Gatien Bertrand, French general (b. 1773) 1856 – 11th Dalai Lama (b. 1838) 1870 – Cilibi Moise, Moldavian-Romanian journalist and author (b. 1812) 1888 – John Bosco, Italian priest and educator, founded the Salesian Society (b. 1815) 1892 – Charles Spurgeon, English pastor and author (b. 1834) 1907 – Timothy Eaton, Canadian businessman, founded Eaton's (b. 1834) 1923 – Eligiusz Niewiadomski, Polish painter and critic (b. 1869) 1933 – John Galsworthy, English author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867) 1942 – Henry Larkin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1860) 1942 – Rolf Wenkhaus, German actor (b. 1917) 1944 – Jean Giraudoux, French author and playwright (b. 1882) 1945 – Eddie Slovik, American soldier (b. 1920) 1954 – Edwin Howard Armstrong, American engineer, invented FM radio (b. 1890) 1954 – Vivian Woodward, English captain and footballer (b. 1879) 1955 – John Mott, American activist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865) 1956 – A. A. Milne, English author, poet, and playwright, created Winnie-the-Pooh (b. 1882) 1958 – Karl Selter, Estonian politician, 14th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1898) 1961 – Krishna Singh, Indian politician, 1st Chief Minister of Bihar (b. 1887) 1966 – Arthur Percival, English general (b. 1887) 1967 – Eddie Tolan, American sprinter and educator (b. 1908) 1969 – Meher Baba, Indian guru and mystic (b. 1894) 1970 – Slim Harpo, American singer and harmonica player (b. 1924) 1971 – Viktor Zhirmunsky, Russian historian and linguist (b. 1891) 1973 – Ragnar Frisch, Norwegian economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895) 1974 – Samuel Goldwyn, Polish-American film producer, co-founded Goldwyn Pictures (b. 1882) 1974 – Glenn Morris, American decathlete and actor (b. 1912) 1974 – Emil Väre, Finnish wrestler, referee, and coach (b. 1885) 1976 – Ernesto Miranda, American criminal, inspired the Miranda rights (b. 1941) 1976 – Evert Taube, Swedish author and composer (b. 1890) 1985 – Reginald Baker, English-Australian film producer (b. 1896) 1985 – Tatsuzō Ishikawa, Japanese author (b. 1905) 1987 – Yves Allégret, French director and screenwriter (b. 1907) 1989 – William Stephenson, Canadian captain and spy (b. 1896) 1990 – Eveline Du Bois-Reymond Marcus, German zoologist and academic (b. 1901) 1990 – Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian-American biochemist and academic (b. 1935) 1991 – Kostas Mountakis, Greek singer-songwriter (b. 1926) 1995 – George Abbott, American director and producer (b. 1887) 1997 – John Joseph Scanlan, Irish-American bishop (b. 1930) 1998 – Leho Laurine, Estonian chess player (b. 1904) 1999 – Giant Baba, Japanese wrestler and trainer, co-founded All Japan Pro Wrestling (b. 1938) 1999 – Barış Manço, Turkish singer-songwriter (Moğollar and Kurtalan Ekspres) (b. 1943) 1999 – Norm Zauchin, American baseball player (b. 1929) 2000 – Gil Kane, Latvian-American author and illustrator (b. 1926) 2001 – Gordon R. Dickson, Canadian-American author (b. 1923) 2002 – Gabby Gabreski, American colonel and pilot (b. 1919) 2004 – Eleanor Holm, American swimmer and actress (b. 1913) 2006 – Moira Shearer, Scottish actress and ballerina (b. 1926) 2007 – Molly Ivins, American journalist and author (b. 1944) 2007 – Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, Saudi Arabian businessman (b. 1957) 2007 – Adelaide Tambo, South African activist and politician (b. 1929) 2011 – Bartolomeu Anania, Romanian bishop and poet (b. 1921) 2011 – Mark Ryan, English guitarist and playwright (Adam and the Ants) (b. 1959) 2012 – Mani Ram Bagri, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1920) 2012 – Anthony Bevilacqua, American cardinal (b. 1923) 2012 – Leslie Carter, American singer-songwriter (b. 1986) 2012 – Tristram Potter Coffin, American author, scholar, and academic (b. 1922) 2012 – Ayelet Galena, American child born with Dyskeratosis congenita (b. 2009) 2012 – Dorothea Tanning, American painter and sculptor (b. 1910) 2013 – Rubén Bonifaz Nuño, Mexican poet and scholar (b. 1923) 2013 – Hassan Habibi, Iranian lawyer and politician, 1st Vice President of Iran (b. 1937) 2013 – Caleb Moore, American snowmobile racer (b. 1987) 2013 – Ingo Swann, American psychic and author (b. 1933) 2014 – Francis M. Fesmire, American cardiologist and physician (b. 1959) 2014 – Anna Gordy Gaye, American songwriter and producer, co-founded Anna Records (b. 1922) 2014 – Abdirizak Haji Hussein, Somalian politician, 4th Prime Minister of Somalia (b. 1924) 2014 – Miklós Jancsó, Hungarian director and screenwriter (b. 1921) 2014 – Joseph Willcox Jenkins, American composer, conductor, and educator (b. 1928) 2014 – Christopher Jones, American actor (b. 1941) 2015 – Tomás Bulat, Argentinian economist, journalist, and academic (b. 1964) 2015 – Don Covay, American singer-songwriter (b. 1936) 2015 – Vic Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929) 2015 – Udo Lattek, German footballer, coach, and journalist (b. 1935) 2015 – Lizabeth Scott, American actress and singer (b. 1922) 2015 – Richard von Weizsäcker, German captain and politician, 6th President of Germany (b. 1920) 2016 – Gil Carmichael, American businessman and politician (b. 1927) 2016 – Benoît Violier, French-Swiss chef (b. 1971) 2016 – Terry Wogan, Irish-English radio and television host (b. 1938) Holidays and observances Christian feast day: Blessed Ludovica Geminianus John Bosco Marcella Samuel Shoemaker (Episcopal Church (USA)) January 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Amartithi (Meherabad, India, followers of Meher Baba) Independence Day (Nauru), celebrates independence from Australia in 1968. Street Children's Day (Austria) External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to January 31. BBC: On This Day The New York Times: On This Day On this day in Canada Category:Days of the year Category:January